Written by

Eva Botkin-Kowacki and Adam Tamburin

The Tennessean

Rain continued to pelt Middle Tennessee Friday, and forecasters expect showers and the threat of flooding to persist today.

Flooding was reported across Nashville as rush hour set in Friday afternoon. A flash-flood watch issued by the National Weather Service indicates that threat could stretch through Sunday morning.

“Don’t drive through water that’s running across the road,” NWS meteorologist Bobby Boyd cautioned. “You don’t know how deep it is, and it may be running fast enough to carry your car downstream.”

Much of the region has already received 2 to 6 inches of rain since Thursday, according to the weather service. Two to 4 inches of additional rainfall is expected, with up to 5 inches of rain possible in some areas.

“The ground is saturated,” Boyd said. “All this rain that’s coming in ... will just be additional runoff.”

Jeff Stark, operations officer with Nashville’s Office of Emergency Management, on Friday said that the office had not seen reports of flooding of creeks or waterways, which would be especially serious. He said his office will monitor conditions through the weekend.

“Even though it is not anticipated to be needed at this point, the Nashville Emergency Operations Center stands ready to be activated if needed,” a statement from OEM read.

Meteorologist Scott Unger with the NWS said not to be concerned about a repeat of the 2010 flood.

“We’re a long way from that happening,” he said. “(But) I wouldn’t be surprised to see some creeks or smaller rivers in the area rise above their banks sometime over the weekend.”

People in flood-prone areas should have a plan to leave before waters rise too high.

“Folks just need to be aware, pay close attention to local forecasts and stay tuned,” Unger said.

Low temperatures

The wet weather has brought cooler temperatures to the area.

Nashville’s Independence Day marked the second-straight year of record-setting temperatures.

Thursday’s high of 71 degrees was Nashville’s lowest recorded high on July 4, Boyd said.

“That’s a record,” Boyd said. “Don’t set many of those.”

Last year, temperatures in Nashville got more than 30 degrees higher, reaching 103 degrees. That’s a record for the hottest July 4.